Notes: The characters from Smallville belong to DC and the WB. The characters from Mutant X belong to Tribune and Marvel. All other characters are fictitious and belong to me. Please send comments to dante0220@yahoo.com . 

The song "Oh Father" is by Madonna and is from the album, "Like A Prayer." C. 1989.

This one was going to be a songfic, but it mutated into a straight fic. Chloe's discovery midway really made my mind up on that note. The song's at the end because I think it fits.  Thanks to Prolific Peggy for suggesting I write this one.

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimers: Lex's POV; AU (Duboisverse); Chlex.

Summary: Lex confronts his father over the contents of the envelope from the previous Dubois story and makes a discovery about Chloe in the process.

Spoilers: Most of the Smallville series thus far and the Mutant X eppies tied to Gabriel Ashlocke. This also ties into my latest, "The Truth Will Set You Free" as well.


I pull up in front of the Hampshire County House of Corrections on a rain-soaked night two days after Christmas. The clouds obscure the stars with their cover. 

It's kind of ironic because Dad had tried to do the same to me. He wanted to teach me that the common man was a group of ants to be stepped on, pushed aside, and trampled all to achieve the Luthor Dream of Progress. His associate, Stuart Dubois, had tried to do the same to his own son.

I smirk warmly. Too bad that Dave was just as stubborn back then as he is today. He saved the Talon and taught me some valuable lessons about community and friendship in the process. I still carry those lessons with me. Because of those concepts, I am here tonight about to make the biggest move of my life. After what my father pulled on Dave and Karen, I can no longer stomach having a relationship with the old bastard. He has to learn that nobody has the right to mess with people like that.

Walking into the gray stony prison, I stop at the security gate and identify myself.

"Mr. Luthor, what may I do for you?" the guard inquired.

"I'm here to see my father, Lionel," I tell him flatly.

"He's popular tonight. There's somebody with him right now. Come with me," the security guard stated.

I follow him through the cellblock. As we did, I could almost see Steve Petersen rushing with Natalie LeBeau through this same hall, trying to reach the elder Dubois before he was murdered. The prisoners, of course, were back in their cells. My father did his work well. His errand boy, Gabriel Ashlocke, left Dubois hanging and a guard stabbed in the cell. 

"I wonder how he likes his buddy's cell?" the guard chuckles. "Sorry, Mr. Luthor. I was noting the irony."

I nod. "Don't worry. I knew what you're getting at. I think it's appropriate."

Ten minutes later, we walk into the hallway. About halfway down, I hear a familiar voice pierce the veil of memory.

"How dare you think you can get away with that?"

Chloe. It could only be her. I thought I was the one who was going to rip into Dad tonight. Leave it to her to beat me to the punch. Still, what's she doing here? She was supposed to be packing tonight to leave Cornell and come to Tucson.

Then, my father's voice cracks, "As if I would expect a lowly girl such as yourself to understand such things. I have my revenge for the Talon incident. It is how business operates."

She snaps back. "At least, I'm not the one messing with people's families!"

The guard chuckles. "She's a feisty one, ain't she?"

"You don't know the half of it," I state, the smirk growing on my face as we approach the cell. Walking into the private block area, I saw the Hazel Fury tearing into Big Bad Lionel. "You can leave us."

The guard unlocks and relocks the cell door. "I'll be back in about 20 minutes."

"Thank you," I tell him, turning to the two combatants.

Dad sees me standing there. "Lex, come to join the party? Your little friend seems to think she understands how we think."

"Little? Why, you! The only thing that's little around here is your brain or rather, that pea that passes for it!" she retorted sharply.

I smile, admiring how she can hold her own against Dad. No wonder, Dave agreed to take her on as a student. Still, I need to ask the question, "Not that I mind you being here, but why are you here?"

She turns on me, her cheeks flushed, "Do you mind, Lex? I'm in the middle of a lecture here!"

"Ranting is more like it," Dad chides.

"Dad, give it a rest," I warn him with a stern glare. 

"Don't tell me you're here to save Daddy Lionel?"

"I'm calling a timeout is all. Trust me, I don't want to break your momentum," I reply half-snarkily, half-supportively. "Just leave some for me, all right?"

"What? You've got something too?"

The sinister smirk on my face answers her question.

"Oooh...oh...kay," she agrees. "If you must know, I'm interviewing your Dad about Genomex for the school paper and the values of genetic research."

He snorts sarcastically. "It was that...for about five minutes."

"Hey! No comments from the Peanut Gallery!" she retorts, shooting him an icy stare. She's getting really angry now. Running her hand across her forehead, she asks, "Is it hot in here or is it just me?"

I shiver. The area is cool if nothing else. Placing my hand on her forehead, I feel that she's burning up. "You're sick. Come on, I've got to get you out of here."

"No!" she insists, turning back on my father. "Not until he understands what he's done to Professor Dubois and Mrs. Montoya! That's sick, insane, and cruel."

As I watch her, I notice that the room is getting brighter. "What the?" I ask. Then, I notice that it's her. "Chloe, what's going on?"

"I...I..." she stammers and grits her teeth as the glow gets brighter. Suddenly, she turns crimson all over with the exception of her blonde hair. "Oh geez...what's happening to me?"

"Chloe!" I exclaim, allowing my concern for her to be apparent. "What? How's this happening?"

"I don't know. This has never happened before," she states. 

"The answer's simple...you're a freak and a monstrosity just like the others," Dad replies.

"You're one to talk. You pervert everything in the Dubois family and you call her a monster? How dare you? HOW DARE YOU?" I lecture. "Do you realize all of the pain and suffering you've caused?"

"I built our legacy, Lex. I did what was necessary," he answers me self-righteously.

"How was that necessary? In doing that boon for Stuart, you disrupted his children's lives! You denied his mother and former in-laws the chance to know their other grandchildren! David will blame himself for that until the day he dies. And for what, because of Stuart's selfish notion of not having a daughter or was it out of spite because of what happened in Smallville?" I bellow, losing my cool in spite of my better judgment. 

"Lex...Lex...you'll never understand what I tried to teach you. As a father, I tried to show you how to survive in this world. This is war. The younger Dubois is the enemy. I did what I had to in order to break him," my father argues.

"You failed," she snarls. 

We turn to see her floating in the air about ten feet above the ground.

"Can you do any other tricks, my Dear?" Dad scoffs. "Perhaps sit up and fetch too?"

She smirks and points her hand, allowing a burst of heat energy to stream toward him. A spot about three feet to his right smolders and leaves a smoky residue. "How about I give you a hot foot?"

I shake my head. "Chloe, that's enough. We need to go. Can you...well...radiate off...or whatever?"

"I wish I knew how," she admits.

"Why would she wanna do that?" a dark voice chuckles from the corner manifesting itself into Dave's Dark Child persona. "Ah like it!"

You would, I muse to myself, frowning. "Time to break this party up. Okay, Dad, I want to say my piece and then, we're leaving."

"Go ahead. I'm not going anywhere apparently for a while," he declares, lounging on the bed.

My temper flares again. "Dad, I don't know how you keep hurting people like this! I've tried to overlook it. I've tried to deal with it. However, after the bombing incident, the attack on the funeral, and this mess...." I hold up the opened envelope for him to see. "I won't be calling you 'father' any longer, Lionel."

"How dramatic, Son. Bravo!" my father laughs, clapping his hands derisively. 

"I'm serious," I advise him.

"And I'm serious. The only reason you have what you have is because you're my son. Period. The fortune's mine. You've lived on my coattails!" he snaps.

"Correction, D...Lionel, it was yours. Remember that stack of papers you signed concerning Genomex and the Estate? One of the forms was a waiver of any claim to the Estate, any monies, trusts, or anything else to do with the family." I go eye to eye with him. "It is now mine. You have nothing and I like it that way." The smirk spreads across my face.

"You can't do that!" he protests indignantly.

"Oh, he can," the Child snickers. "An' he did. Unca Lionel, ya'll are cut off."

"Hey! Didn't I mention to you and Dave that I wanted to take care of this myself?" I yell.

"Ah'm doin' mah job!" the Dark One growls.

"And I appreciate it. Let me do mine, all right?" I request.

I can almost feel the pouting from across the room. "Fine."

"Thanks. As for you, Lionel, we're finished! This will be the last time you ever see me visit you. You're cut off as he mentioned and alone now. You always said it was a lonely business. Well now, you get to live it!" I declare.

At that moment, she manages to settle to the ground and return to normal. "Wow..."

"Are you all right?" I ask her with concern.

"Now I am. Let's get out of here. We're done with him," she tells me.

"Not yet," I disagree, kissing her. 

"Oh, how far you've fallen," Lionel grouses.

"Hey! Lionel, if I want anything from you, I'll ask!" I say with as cutting a tone as I can manage.

"Think what you want, Lex. I'm your father," he disagrees.

"Can you let Dave know what happened to Chloe?" I ask the Child.

"Yeah, Ah can do that," he agrees, disappearing into the darkness of the cell.

Just then, the guard comes back. "Time to go, folks."

"See you around, Lex. And, Miss Sullivan, I will reclaim him," Lionel assumes.

"Not this time," she affirms, grasping my hand tightly. "I have him now and I'm not letting him go."

I smile and kiss her again. "No, Lionel. This is good bye." With that, we walk out of the cell and watch as the door slams shut, sealing the man off from the world.

"That must have been some visit," the guard remarked. "I haven't seen him that animated since he got here."

We shrug and keep going. 

As we leave the cell area, she asks me, "Lex?"

"Yes?"

"Does it matter to you that I'm...well...different?"

I take her chin in my fingers and gently lift it so that I'm looking into those hazel pools of hers. "You always were special, Chloe. The powers don't make you who you are-just as they don't make Clark or Lana who they are. You're still you and I love you because of it."

"Thank you, Lex," she sighed, allowing tears to flow down her cheeks. "You don't know how happy that makes me."

"And you don't know how happy that it made me to see you there to support me," I note. "Now, let's get back to your dorm and get you packed. The sooner we're out of here, the sooner that Adam can look you over and we can get on with our lives. Is that all right?"

"Would you do anything else, Luthor?" she smirks.

"No, Miss Sullivan, I wouldn't have it any other way," I assure her as we drive off into the night. By coincidence, a song came over the radio-a tune that I would guess that Dave knows well. Hearing it makes Chloe and me realize that we are beyond my father now and on our way to a new life together.


It's funny that way, you can used 
To the tears and the pain
What a child will believe
You never loved me

You can't hurt me now
I got away from you, I never thought I would
You can't make me cry, you once had the power
I never felt so good about myself

Seems like yesterday
I lay down next to your boots and I prayed
For your anger to end
Oh Father I have sinned

You can't hurt me now
I got away from you, I never thought I would
You can't make me cry, you once had the power
I never felt so good about myself

Oh Father if you never wanted me to live that way
If you never wanted to hurt me
Why am I running away

Maybe someday
When I look back I'll be able to say
You didn't mean to be cruel
Somebody hurt you too

You can't hurt me now
I got away from you, I never thought I would
You can't make me cry, you once had the power
I never felt so good about myself



THE END

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